First wave of floods hit Assam

Guwahati, March 25 (IANS) Heavy rains have triggered flash floods in Assam Thursday, breaching a mud embankment and affecting at least 10 villages in the eastern district of Lakhimpur, officials said. A government spokesman said floodwaters of Singora, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, entered Naoboicha area.

“There has been a breach of about 20 metres in an embankment. That led to floodwaters entering human settlements in about 10 villages,” a district official said.

This is the first wave of floods in Assam this year.

“So far there are no reports of people displaced. Measures are being taken to plug the breaches,” the official said.

“We have sounded a maximum alert and have kept disaster management teams on standby,” the official added.

The 2,906 km long Brahmaputra is one of Asia’s largest rivers. It covers its first stretch of 1,625 km in Tibet, the next 918 km in India and the remaining 363 km through Bangladesh before flowing into the Bay of Bengal.